MP wants Zahid cited for contempt, brands his remarks as reckless

TG PIAI POLLS | A DAP lawmaker has urged Attorney-General Tommy Thomas or Johor Bahru Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali to initiate contempt proceedings against Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Ramkarpal Singh said Zahid should be hauled to court over his remarks concerning Siti Hajar's decision to acquit a woman over a reckless driving charge, which caused the death of eight teenage cyclists in Johor Bahru in 2017.

Failing which, he warned, “Such reckless statements and comments may become a norm, something which must be avoided.”

Ramkarpal said Zahid implied that the government was involved in the court's decision and that the magistrate was not impartial.

“The said statement clearly undermines public confidence in the judiciary, and ridicules, scandalises and offends the dignity, integrity, and impartiality of the court.

“This is a serious allegation and goes beyond fair criticism of the decision of the said magistrate as such criticism can cause the public to feel that she was biased and had taken into consideration matters which ought not to have been, when deciding the matter,” he added in a statement this afternoon.

The Bukit Gelugor MP noted that when lawyer Arun Kasi was imprisoned and fined by the Federal Court for contempt of court for unfairly criticising its decision, it had sparked a debate on the limits of criticism of court judgments.

“With respect, Zahid’s statement is equally, if not more serious, and ought not escape the long arm of the law. If Arun was cited for contempt, there is no reason why Zahid should not,” he added.

Ramkarpal was responding to a Malaysiakini report, which quoted the Umno president casting aspersions on the court's decision during a ceramah in Tanjung Piai, last night.

"When eight children riding their bicycles in Johor were hit by a woman (driver), that woman was released as though there was no evidence.

"Those children have died, they have become arwah (the deceased)," he said, prompting a member in the audience to shout that the woman should be hanged.

Although Zahid did not mention the woman's race, criticism of the court ruling has been focused on her ethnicity.

Siti Hajar released Sam Ke Ting, 24, without calling the latter to the stand after finding that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case.

In her judgment, the magistrate said the court took into consideration several factors, namely that it was a dark, hilly and winding road where the driver - who was not local to the area - could not foresee that there would be a group of cyclists on the road at three o'clock in the morning.

The magistrate added that the cyclists had put themselves in danger.

Siti Hajar said investigations found that Sam was not under the influence of alcohol, was not using her phone and wore a seatbelt while driving, proving the accused was driving responsibly and carefully. - Mkini